There's Something Wrong with Mai
by LoveAlwaysComplex124
Summary: Mai’s been having strange dreams. Stranger than ever. Asking Naru about it, he concludes she’s being haunted. But there might be something more than that…
1. Chapter 1

**Summary: Mai's been having strange dreams. Stranger than ever. Asking Naru about it, he concludes she's being haunted. But there might be something more than that…**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt.**

* * *

'_There it is again,_' Mai thought looking at a badly lit hallway. She walks down the hallway. Stopping in front of a familiar door, Mai looks around and realizes she didn't know where she was.

Mai didn't want to open the door but she did anyway. In the middle of the room there's a chair. A girl dressed in white sat on it. She reminded Mai of scary movies. The girl's face is hidden by her hair.

"_Mai-chan,_" the girl said in a playful voice but it echoed and sounded harsh. "_Come here. We'll play._"

Mai didn't want to go there but she ended up walking there. She saw the girl before but this was the first time she ever had to walk up to her. Mai was about to nudge the girl. Her hand came up and—

"MAI! Stop slacking off!" Naru's voice jolted Mai out of her dream.

Mai rubbed her eyes. She hadn't been getting sleep lately because of her bad dreams but that just caused her to sleep more and get more nightmares. Mai looked up to see Naru glaring at her.

"You've been falling asleep lately," he said coldly.

"Sorry…" Mai apologized, "I've been having nightmares recently and I can't seem to sleep."

"If it's about our cases, take today off and rest at your pl--"

"Not my room."

Naru looked up. Mai's eyes looked blank as she said that but she seemed to recover.

"Oh! I'm sorry," she apologized for the second time that day, "I don't know why I said that all of a sudden…"

Naru called Lin.

"Yes?"

"Please drive Mai home."

Lin nodded and Mai followed him to his car. He drove to her apartment. Mai just stared up at it, not wanting to go in for some reason. Lin drove away but as he did, he noticed Mai didn't move from her spot.

* * *

The following day, Mai came to work in her school uniform.

"Mai," Naru came out of his office with Masako, "Te—why haven't you changed?"

"I didn't want to go home," Mai answered, "I don't like it there. Naru? What's wrong with me?"

"Other than you're paranoid and you're an idiot? Nothing," he replied turning away.

"Because… I shouldn't be having nightmares about the same girl right? Should I?"

Naru sighed. "If that's all that's bothering you, tell me about the girl."

"… She wears white. She sits on the same chair in the same looking room. She has black hair that always covers her face. She calls me Mai-chan. And last time, she invited me to play with her…"

"Isn't it obvious? You're being haunted."

* * *

**What do you think? Is it good? Should I continue?**


	2. Chapter 2

**I've been thinking about the title and which one do you think sounds scarier? 'There's Something Wrong with Mai' or 'There's Something Wrong with Taniyama Mai'? It's almost the same but I think the last name part does something.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Ghost Hunt.**

* * *

"Haunted?" Mai repeated, "What do you mean?"

"Are you stupid?" Naru sighed, "What else could it mean?"

"What am I supposed to do now?" Mai started to panic.

Naru rolled his eyes. "We can't have you getting in the way of your work so obviously we'll be exorcizing it."

"Well sorry for being stupid," Mai replied stiffly.

* * *

"Masako, do you see any ghosts?" Naru asked.

Masako looked around and came back shaking her head. "There's nothing here."

Naru turned to glare at Mai. "What does that mean?" he asked.

"Well, it's not really my apartment…" Mai started, "It's the fact that it's empty."

Naru rolled his eyes. "Masako and I came all the way here to check it out and I find out it's because you're _lonely_?"

"The girl has nothing to do with that!" Mai protested, "I just… don't like being alone…"

"Why not?" Naru demanded.

"It's too empty. There's nothing in it…" Mai trailed off.

Naru rolled his eyes again. Mai ran off to change out of her uniform and when she came back, Naru glared at her.

"We'll look around a bit longer," he started. "Mai, te--"

He was cut off by the fact he saw Mai asleep on a chair. Naru sighed and went into the kitchen himself to make some tea. He was looking for the teacups when he heard a choking sound.

"Naru!" Masako called him, "There's something on Mai!"

Naru ran over to Mai who seemed to have fallen out of her chair and was shaking and choking on the floor.

"What happened?"

"I don't know. She just suddenly started choking on air then she fell off. There's a black aura on her!"

Naru reached out to touch Mai but her skin was deathly cold.

"Stop it!" Mai cried out in her sleep, "STOP IT!"

* * *

_Mai was on a rooftop this time. In front of her, the girl, dressed in the same clothes as always was standing on the outside of the rail. Her hair was still covering her face._

"_Don't!" Mai tried to warn the girl, "You'll fall."_

"_You'd like that, wouldn't you?" the girl rasped in the same scary voice._

_It seemed to echo through and through. The girl held out a hand._

"_I'll stop if you take my place."_

_Mai flinched away._

"_No? How about this. Come here."_

_Reluctantly, Mai walked toward the girl. The girl hugged Mai gently then squeezed her tightly._

"_Stop… it…" Mai choked out, "I can't… breathe…"_

"_No?" the girl replied calmly at first then growled, "_**Good. Maybe you'll know my pain now, huh Mai?**_"_

_The girl revealed a sharp kitchen knife that seemed to appear out of nowhere._

"_Let's play, Mai-chan," she said in her echoing, harsh and playful voice, "__**Let's play like we used to.**__"_

_The girl pulled on Mai's hair and held a kitchen knife to Mai's throat._

"_Stop it!" Mai screamed, "STOP IT!"_

* * *

"MAI!" Naru repeatedly called out.

Mai's eyes snapped open and hugged Naru.

"She tried to kill me!" Mai cried.

"What happened?" Naru asked hurriedly.

"We were on a rooftop… She was outside the safety rail… Then she hugged me… and… she held a… a knife… and… and…"

Mai stopped talking and continued to cry. Masako came back with a cup of tea.

"Here, calm down," she said.

* * *

"I think it's best if you stayed with someone tonight…" Naru told Mai back at the office where everyone was gathered.

"She can stay with me," Ayako offered.

"Thanks, but I don't think you're capable of protecting Mai when she dreams again," Naru said.

"Why you…!" Ayako fumed, "I'm perfectly capable of protecting Mai!"

"Why don't we just all sleep over at one person's place?" John suggested innocently.

"How about Mai's place?" Bou-san piped in, "I mean, what if that girl lives there too?"

"I've had dreams here too, though," Mai pointed out.

* * *

Despite that, they all went to camp in Mai's apartment anyway. Naru insisted they all set up base in her bedroom so they all had to sleep in the living room. Mai pushed all her stuff into a closet to make room for base and everyone set up the living room so they could all sleep on the floor.

Of course, Naru wanted to sleep on the couch instead. Masako wasn't thrilled about sleeping on the floor so Mai had to go get a futon for her. Lin… no one really imagined that he slept so it was kind of awkward.

They made Mai sleep in the middle so they could reach her faster. Mai wasn't thrilled about it at all.

"You know, I'd sleep faster if you all didn't expect me to die," Mai said glaring at everyone who stared at her expectantly.

"Just shut up and sleep," Naru ordered her.

"Oh and if she hurts you, we taught you chants remember?" Ayako reminded Mai.

"Oh yeah…"

"Idiot," Naru rolled his eyes.

Everyone pretended to fall asleep for Mai's sake but as soon as she fell asleep they all hovered over her, watching for some reaction.

* * *

_In Mai's dream, this time, the girl was sitting on her usual chair in the same room but instead of the hallway, the door came from a house. Mai heard some giggling from it but when she entered, it was just the same girl on the same chair._

"_You told on me," she said in her echoing voice, "You told on me Mai-chan."_

"_I didn't tel--"_

"_I don't need your excuses, Mai. Come here. Tattle tales need to be punished."_

* * *

**I know it's fast paced and short but I never had a good sense of rhythm in the first place. Go ahead, ask my friends. So what do you think? I wrote this right after midnight. Do you know how scary that is?**

**Oh and remember about the title.**

**PLEASE REVIEW and complain about how I move too quickly so I'll work harder (I don't move unless I'm told, you see)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Yay! A lot of people like my story. I'm super happy. I was gonna wait on updating the same time as my other stories but then you guys are too awesome. So consider you guys' selves special.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt.**

* * *

"_I didn't tell on you!" Mai started backing away and broke out into a run._

"_Mai-chan…" she heard the girl trail off from the room but then she growled, "_**TRAITOR!**_"_

_Taking that as a cue for danger, Mai desperately ran down some stairs where she saw a door with light streaming through. '_The front door!_' Mai thought, filling with hope. She ran towards it._

"**Mai.**_"_

_The girl appeared in front of Mai instantly. Mai staggered back and almost tripped. She turned her back on the girl and started running in the other direction. Mai ran and ran. Her heart was racing and her breathing became heavy._

_Mai ran into a hallway where there was only one door. '_Maybe if I should turn back…_' Mai thought but from the hallway, she heard faint scratching sounds and steps coming from somewhere near._

"_Mai-chan… Come back!" the voice echoed, "I won't hurt you. I promise."_

_Desperately, Mai ran towards the door and slammed it closed. She fell to the floor and started gasping for her breath. Mai looked up and realized the room was dark. Getting to her feet, she felt around the wall searching for a light switch. Finally she found it and when she switched the lights on… the girl's hand was on top hers._

_Mai did the only thing her body could manage. She screamed._

* * *

Everyone was watching Mai curiously when suddenly, Mai's breathing became erratic. It was like that for a while when suddenly Mai seemed to stop breathing altogether. To make sure, Lin listened for her breath.

"She's not breathing," he announced then he took her pulse, "And her pulse is too quick."

"W--" Naru started to say but then was cut off by Mai starting to breathe erratically again.

Mai kept breathing irregularly but after a minute or so, she started calming down. Everyone was watching her, not talking as if she might combust if they made a sound. It was silent except for Mai's shallow breaths when Mai started screaming bloody murder. Which it probably was.

"Mai!" Naru called her name, "Mai, wake up! Mai!"

Mai wouldn't wake up. Naru continued calling her name.

"Her hand," Masako said holding Mai's hand up, "It's colder than the rest of her arm and it has a shadow on it but it's slowly creeping up her arm."

Bou-san started chanting. John started praying. Mai kept screaming.

Ayako pushed through and slapped Mai like she did during that Labyrinth case. Mai immediately sat up. No one said anything for a while. Mai kept staring ahead of her, not moving.

"Mai?" Naru waved his hand in front of her, "Mai. Mai, can you hear me?"

Mai grabbed Naru's hand by the wrist.

"She's here," she whispered. Her tone sounded strained and frantic. Her eyes filled with tears.

Everyone's heads whipped around to where Mai was looking which revealed… nothing.

"Mai, what are you talking about?" Bou-san asked her still looking for any sign of a ghost, "There's nothing there."

"Huh?" Mai finally tore her gaze away from the nothing she was staring at, "What are you talking about?! She's there!"

Naru glanced at Masako. Masako looked back and shook her head.

"There's nothing there," Masako said out loud.

"Lin, check the cameras," Naru ordered Lin. Lin left.

When he came back, he said, "Nothing. Everything's normal."

"What are you talking about?!" Mai demanded crazily, "SHE'S THERE! HOW CAN YOU NOT SEE HER?!"

"Mai…" Ayako spoke up, "There's nothing there."

Mai didn't seem to listen to her. She continued staring at the empty space.

"Stop this!" she said but she wasn't looking at anyone in particular.

More silence.

"Shut up! SHUT UP!" Mai screamed and clutched her head.

"Mai," Naru nudged her, "Mai, come with me. I need to talk to you."

* * *

**MAI POV.**

I felt someone slap me. I woke up and I immediately felt her presence. I sat up immediately. Everyone was silent but that only emphasized _her_ presence. There she was, standing right in front of me. I couldn't move. The girl's face was absolutely… normal. However, the fact that it was normal scared me. The only thing about it was that her eyes looked bloodshot.

"_Why, hello Mai-chan,_" she giggled, "_Isn't it great? We get to be friends in _your_ world too!_"

"Mai?" I vaguely heard Naru as waved his hand in front of my face, "Mai. Mai, can you hear me?"

I grabbed Naru's wrist to stop him.

"She's here," I whispered. I didn't even realize how frantic I was until I talked and my eyes filled with tears.

Everyone's heads whipped around but they didn't panic. How couldn't they? She was right there!

"Mai, what are you talking about?" Bou-san asked me, his eyes darting back and forth completely missing _her_, "There's nothing there."

"Huh?" I finally stopped staring at the girl, "What are you talking about?! She's there!"

"_They can't see me_," she said sadly at first then continued cheerfully, "_You and I are the only ones that can interact. Sounds fun, __**right**__?_"

Her face became distorted as it settled on an utterly disgusting expression. Her eyebrows were scrunched together in anger. The girl's eyes were wide and crazed. Her mouth widened into a smile. But it was too wide for her face and it revealed her teeth which were something you'd definitely expect from a monster. As quickly as it changed, her face changed back. My eyes narrowed.

"_Not even the dolly can see me_," she told me coming closer by a step, "_See? That handsome one just glanced at her. She just shook her head._"

"There's nothing there," Masako said out loud.

"_Told you so_," the girl said in a sing song-y voice.

"Lin, check the cameras," Naru ordered Lin. I heard Lin's footsteps as he left.

When he came back, he said, "Nothing. Everything's normal."

"What are you talking about?!" I demanded crazily, "SHE'S THERE! HOW CAN YOU NOT SEE HER?!"

"Mai…" Ayako spoke up, "There's nothing there."

I didn't want to hear it. No, this can't possibly happen to me. No! No… Her face distorted again.

"_**That's what you get for being a tattle tale**_," she growled at me then she changed back, "_Let's both be good girls from now on, ok?_"

"Stop this!" I said staring right at her.

"_No can do, Mai-chan_," she taunted me, "_You see, you and I, we're different. You're _weak_ and I'm strong. I don't get how you survived though I died eons ago. That will all end soon. Then _you_ can face my darkness."_

"Shut up! SHUT UP!" I screamed and clutched my head in hopes of drowning out her words.

"Mai," Naru nudged me, "Mai, come with me. I need to talk to you."

I stood up shakily and Bou-san steadied me but I just shook off his arm. I took one last look at that girl whose face had distorted once again but this time she didn't look as angry. She just stared at me.

"**Enjoy your time while you have it, Mai**," she warned me, "**I'll snatch it out from under you and I'll make sure you suffer from it.**"

After that, she disappeared and I turned my back on her.

* * *

**Woooo! Crazy, huh? If you haven't guessed already, when the girl talks in **_italics_**, she looks normal. When she talks in **_**bold and italics**_**, that means her face is distorted and angry. When she talks in just bold, that means her face is just distorted. Not necessarily angry. So, what do you think?**


	4. Chapter 4

**Just a reminder that **_italics_ **means—for the ghost—that she's talking cheerfully and her face is normal except for her bloodshot eyes. Bold means that her face is distorted (like, her eyebrows are scrunched together and her eyes are crazed. Her mouth is too wide her face. Basically a nightmare) but she's not necessarily angry. **_**Bold italics**_** is the same as bold but she's angry.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt.**

* * *

"Mai," Naru called Mai's attention since she was looking around cautiously, "I need you to tell me more about this girl."

"I've seen her face," Mari started reluctantly, "It's normal, actually. Her eyes are bloodshot though. Her voice and face change too."

"Go on."

"When she's angry with me, her face distorts. When she's acting nice, her face is normal. Sometimes her face is distorted but she doesn't seem angry."

"Why is she haunting you?"

"She's… mad at me… I think."

"Why?"

"I d…" Mai trailed off. _That's what you get for being a tattle tale…_ The voice echoed in her mind.

'_What you get…_' it echoed over and over. '_Tattle tale._'

Mai heard a giggle. She whipped her head around, searching for it frantically.

"Mai," Naru called Mai's attention again, "Mai, what are you looking at?"

"Oh… Nothing…" Mai reluctantly turned back.

"Tell me more about this girl."

"The girl…? I… I don't think I can tell you…"

Naru glared at her. "What are you talking about?"

Mai averted her eyes. "I mean… I don't… I don't know anymore…"

"Why are you lying?"

"I'm not! I swear."

Naru sighed. "Fine. Leave."

Mai left 'the base' and went over to the kitchen. Everyone was lounging around in her living room talking about Mai.

"_Hi, Mai-chan_," the girl popped up right beside Mai.

Mai dropped her tea and slipped onto the floor.

"**Why, you look like you've seen a ghost**," the girl sneered at Mai.

"Mai! What's wrong?" Ayako raced over to the kitchen with the others.

Mai looked back and forth to the girl whose face stayed distorted and the others.

"Mai?" Ayako nudged Mai. She got to her feet and started picking up the pieces to her broken teacup.

"Nothing," she lied.

"_Good girl_," the girl patted her back, "_Glad to know we're keeping promises._"

"Mai," Masako spoke up, "There's a shadow on your back."

The girl immediately snapped her hand back.

"… It's gone," Masako stated.

"Maybe you were mistaken," Ayako suggested.

"Unlike you, I don't make mistakes," Masako said before going back to the living room.

Ayako got angry and followed her. Everyone also left. Mai looked back to the girl.

"Why are you doing this?" Mai whispered on the brink of crying.

The girl's face distorted. "**Why indeed.**"

* * *

All week, Mai wouldn't tell anyone about the girl. Though she acted normally and assured everyone that the girl was gone and probably her imagination, everyone could see that she was unnerved. Masako noticed that every once in a while, a handprint shadow appeared on Mai's arm and Mai would flinch then run off somewhere.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry…" Naru heard Mai whisper to herself one day.

Going off to investigate, he saw Mai kneeling in front of a broken porcelain doll.

"Mai?"

Mai looked up startled. "Naru?"

"Who are you apologizing to?"

"Oh, you heard that?" Mai glanced to her left for a moment. "I was just… saying sorry to the doll for breaking it."

Naru rolled his eyes. "I'm sure it will be ok. It's just a doll."

"Yeah… It's just a doll."

Naru eyed Mai suspiciously. Mai glanced to her left again and got up.

"Well, I have to go file some more stuff," she said leaving.

As soon as Mai left, she glanced to her left nervously again.

"_What is it?_" the girl asked.

"Nothing…" Mai muttered.

"_That was of course, your fault!_" the girl went on cheerfully, "_If you had been obedient, I wouldn't have had to throw it at you. If you had been obedient, _**I think we could have been great friends!**"

* * *

_Flashback_

_Mai went into the storage room. There were a lot of stuff in it from previous cases and who knows where._

"Mai_," the girl appeared, "_Let's go somewhere else!_"_

_She grabbed Mai's arm again and started pulling towards somewhere else._

"_I can't," Mai said, "I have to work."_

_The girl turned around. "It isn't _**you that makes the decisions**,_" her face distorted halfway the sentence, "__**It's me! AND WHEN I SAY WE GO, IT ISN'T A REQUEST!**__"_

"**I've been nice to you all this time**_," she went on, "_**You ungrateful **_**brat**_**.**_"_

_The girl took the first thing she saw and threw it at Mai so hard; the porcelain doll that she threw broke. Mai yelped in pain._

"**You don't know the first thing about**_** pain**_,_" she glared at Mai, "__**So stop crying, you brat.**__"_

_Mai knelt over the doll. "Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry…" she chanted over and over._

_End Flashback._

* * *

**I slowed it down a bit because I need to get over my nerves.**

**Sorry I haven't updated but I watched 3 scary movies in a row and it all got to me right before I went to bed. Seriously, I was so terrified I froze for over an hour which is not a very comfortable position but I wouldn't move. I even forced myself to recite everything in my room and I didn't get any sleep that night. It stuck to me for a few days and now it's 2 pm so I need to write it before I remember everything again.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Ok, so the last chapter was slow and ok because I was scared of ghosts but then I watched this Korean scary movie with my parents called Witch Board or something like that and I was supposed to be scared but I made sure not to see anything distinct and memorable then I realized, I would have done the same thing as the ghosts. After that, I was like 'CHOKE HER CHOKE HER!'**

**Oh yeah, reminder that **_italics _**for the girl mean that she's talking sweetly and junk with her normal face then bold means that her face is distorted but she's not necessarily angry and then **_**bold italics**_** mean that her face is distorted and she's angry.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt.**

* * *

Mai went home completely tired. She was told to start working overtime because she started leaving in the middle of the day just to go somewhere the girl wanted to go. Mai didn't understand why the girl wanted her to go certain places… It's not like she couldn't go there herself. She laid down on her bed and fell asleep.

In her dream, Mai was standing on a roof of a two story house. The house seemed to be old fashioned because of its tiled roof but Mai wasn't going to take the chance to confirm it. It was misty and Mai couldn't see much. _If it was this type of dream, did that mean Naru was here too? _Mai thought as she looked around searching for any sign of him. Two roofs away, Naru was standing on one looking down.

Mai followed his gaze. There were two girls playing around by a river. They were giggling and trying to find their way through the mist.

It all seemed vaguely familiar… Mai didn't know why, but it did.

Then she woke up.

The girl was sitting next to Mai looking out the window.

"_Amazing grace, how sweet the sound_," the girl started singing.

She kept singing but then she stopped, looked at Mai and walked off.

* * *

The next day, when the girl disappeared for a bit, Mai took this opportunity to ask Naru some questions.

"Naru?" she entered his office.

"What is it Mai?" he asked coldly, "I'm busy."

"I just need to ask some questions."

"What?"

"If a ghost hanged around the person they're haunting without doing anything that bad, what would be their reason?"

Naru sighed and looked up from his papers. "Why?"

"Um… Just from a story I read online."

Naru sighed again. "It could be that they're waiting until they get stronger or that they're waiting for you to realize something."

"How do you know--"

But Mai couldn't finish her question when she saw the girl in the corner of Naru's office. The girl's expression was blank as if saying 'you coward'.

"Never mind," Mai said exiting the office.

* * *

That day after work, Mai felt very cautious. Like there was something following her. She'd be doing her paperwork when suddenly, footsteps would echo and she'd look up but nothing would be there. When she exited a store, the bell kept ringing in her head.

_Ring, ring, ring, ring, ring._

It kept ringing over and over that when the phone rang, it was smothered by the ringing sounds so Naru yelled at Mai to pick it up the next day.

Outside, it was raining and there was a thunderstorm. It startled Mai and the ringing stopped. But this time, the entire room was silent to the point that it was deafening. To shake off her nerves, Mai started singing but the silent kept creeping up.

Suddenly the lights went out. Mai shrieked from the sudden darkness.

"A blackout?" she frantically searched for any source of light, "Why now?"

Finally, she settled for her phone's light. Mai headed towards the general direction of Naru's office but an ear splitting scream cut through the air. Reluctantly, Mai followed it. The lights switched on but instead of the somewhat yellow glow they had, they were red. However, Mai forced herself to follow it and the lights switched off with every step she took, passing them.

Mai found herself on the roof, staring at the girl who stood near the edge and held an umbrella above her head.

"_I used to play a game_," she said motioning for Mai to come over, "_With my friends._"

When Mai stood in front of the girl, the girl held the umbrella above Mai and though Mai wanted to inch away, she felt frozen.

"_About this game…_" the girl continued, "_It was called 'Would you rather'._ _In this game, we would be given two things and we would say which one we'd rather do._"

The girl stepped aside to reveal a broken pipe.

"_If I pour this in and throw in a match, the entire building would burn down_," she held up a bottle and a small box, "_So Mai-chan, would you rather die of a fire or of being pushed off a building?_"

"Put that away!" Mai glared at the girl and her bottle, "Stop it!"

But the girl simply smiled assuringly… and pushed Mai off the roof.

* * *

Naru was doing his work when the lights went out. He heard Mai shriek from the other room. Sighing, he took another sip of his tea and went to get Mai. When Naru came out of his office, the front door was open and Mai was nowhere to be found. _She must have left early,_ he mentally rolled his eyes. Deciding he no longer wanted to stay, Naru went out to his car.

Naru was halfway to his car when he glanced up and saw Mai near the edge of the roof. _Is she stupid?!_ Naru thought turning around fully. He was about to go up and stop her when he saw that Mai wasn't facing the edge like one committing suicide would. She was facing her left but he couldn't see what she was doing.

That's when Mai suddenly fell off. Naru tried to use his PK but Mai still fell and she still got splattered on the ground. Naru whipped out his cell phone and called for an ambulance.

* * *

When Mai woke up, she saw that all the SPR members were there. Ayako was the first one to notice she woke up.

"Why were you on the roof?" she demanded, "During a _thunderstorm_ too!"

Mai just stared at her. Or rather, through her.

"Listen to me!"

Bou-san stopped her. "She's traumatized right now," he whispered, "Just let her rest."

Mai suddenly sat up and took in a bunch of deep breaths. Everyone stared at her curiously. And then she screamed.

* * *

**I understand that it just became even more confusing but just bear with me here. I also know that I've never given the girl the name but I suck at naming and I decided that maybe (just maybe) I'll put in a small twist with the names. It's still a bit off rhythm because it's hard to slow things down then speed things up on top of coming up with great ideas.**

**I'm not sure when the next time I can update is but it might not be for a while. If you need a reason you can ask but I think that a super long author's note and a not so good chapter (feel free to disagree, lol) is a good way to lose readers. Lol. REVIEW!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Girl's speech pattern**

_Italics _**– talks normal; face normal**

**Bold – talks normal; face distorted**

_**Bold italics**_** – talks angrily; face distorted**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt.**

* * *

Mai screamed. A nurse came rushing in and tried to calm down Mai but she wouldn't. After a few more moments, Mai finally stopped screaming.

"Mai, are you okay?" Bou-san asked.

"Sorry about that, I just felt a bit closed off," Mai said getting up.

Ayako tried to make her go back but Mai shrugged her off.

"Lin-san, can you drive me somewhere?" she asked glancing at Lin.

"You're in no condition to go somewhere," Naru told her sternly but Mai didn't even glance at him. "Mai!"

"If I'm not being driven there, I'll take the train there," Mai said still not looking at anyone, "And if not, I'll walk there."

Naru glared at Mai who was trying to put her sweater on without hurting her broken arm and ordered Lin to drive her.

"Let's go then," she said.

"Mai…" Ayako said in a concerned tone, "You don't sound you anymore."

"Hm."

* * *

They arrived at a small town by a river. Everyone else decided to tag along to make sure Mai was going to be ok.

"After my dad died, me and my mom went here for a vacation," Mai said as she got out of Lin's car.

"Where are you going?" Naru asked her but Mai paid no attention. She just walked.

They passed a crumbling house and Mai stopped in front of the house next door.

"I just want to see something here," she told everyone before going off.

Everyone waited outside the house.

Mai went around the house to the back. In the back, there were several colourful flowers about her height. It was a maze. Mai went through it once then went inside. Inside was very old. The walls were so obviously wood and the windows were not even glass as was the case for the houses here.

In one of the rooms, an old woman was knitting.

"I'm sorry to barge in…" Mai apologized.

"It's fine," the old woman said still knitting, "I don't mind."

She set down her stuff.

"Moreover," she looked at Mai, "You're here because of the girl, right?"

Mai nodded hesitantly.

"MAI!" her name was called from outside, "MAI?"

"I have to go now," Mai headed towards the door.

"Come again," the woman said, "I have something I want to show you."

Mai nodded once and exited.

* * *

"Are you done?" Naru asked cold as always.

"Nope," Mai answered.

Mai skipped off across the town. Every once in a while, she'd stop, look at the building near her then go off again.

"Let's go back to that first house," Mai suggested already running off.

Everyone was already complaining but they followed anyway. Mai ran into the house with the old woman.

"You said you had something you wanted to show me?" Mai asked her.

"You don't look like you've remembered yet…" the old woman said putting down her things, "So no. Not yet."

Mai frowned. The old woman took out a piece of paper from her pocket and waved in front of Mai. Mai only got a glance of the paper. '_Joanna_' it said. The old woman put it back in her pocket.

_Joanna?_ Mai thought.

"Um... what do you know about the girl?" Mai asked. The old woman looked up.

"Out of the two of us, only _you_ should know the answer," she replied, "Try the house next door."

"It looks abandoned though..."

"I know."

* * *

When Mai left, she glanced at the house next door. The crumbling one.

"You can't just go into other people's houses," Bou-san tried to get Mai to come back.

"This one looks abandoned though," she said now staring at the crumbling house.

"All the houses here look abandoned!" Ayako protested.

Mai didn't pay any attention though. She just went into the crumbling house. Naru followed her.

Inside, everything was burnt. It felt as if the house would collapse on them any minute. Mai still went on though, going up the stairs that looked like they would give away and through a window that was already half burnt onto the roof.

From the roof, she could see the river and except for the mist, it looked exactly like her dream.

Mai was turning, about to go back inside when she remembered something from her time there.

"_Murderer," someone said to Mai cruelly though Mai couldn't remember who, "You're a __**murderer**__, Mai. You know what they do to murderers? They kill them."_

Remembering this, Mai lost her footing and was about to fall off the roof when Naru grabbed her arm. Mai cried out in pain since it was injured from her fall off the SPR building. Looking over her shoulder, Mai saw the girl standing on the edge of the roof with her hair covering her face once again.

Naru pulled Mai in.

"Are you stupid?" he yelled at her, "Do you _like_ falling off of roofs?!"

"Sorry…" Mai apologized. She looked back again but this time, the girl was gone. Then she realized everyone was gone. "Where's everyone?"

Naru sighed, exasperated. "I asked Hara-san and Brown-san to go see if they could find any ghosts here. Bou-san and Matsuzaki-san are resting while Lin finds information on this place. Are you _done_ here?"

Mai didn't answer. Instead she asked, "What would you do… if I said I was a murderer?"

* * *

**I know what you may or may not be thinking. Why can Mai do this when she fell off the SPR roof? Well, think of it this way. She was facing her left and the girl pushed her so the impact is more on her arm and side but other than that, scrapes and bruises should be the rest, right? Just pretend because that's the only way it's possible for her to do this. I know the rhythm is off...**


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry about the really long break, guys! My laptop's hardware or something like that got toasted so my files were totally lost. I had to reinstall everything but my mom was getting a new version of Word so I had to wait for that. I'm really sorry. (This is actually from my parents' laptop. I did the chapter on google and exported it)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt.**

* * *

Naru stared at Mai. "Are you saying you're a murderer?"

Mai turned away. "I don't know."

Naru rolled his eyes and started pulling Mai towards the stairs. "We'll figure this all out."

"I don't think we can."

"We can," Naru insisted, "I'm around."

Mai laughed and ran down the stairs. She took a look at the door and remembered her dream.

_The door!_ she exclaimed. Mai turned around and went in the opposite direction. Naru called her name but she just kept going. Mai encountered a room. It was the only one in the hallway. No, that wasn't true. There were other doors but they blended in with the walls. Reluctantly and very slowly, Mai walked to the door and slowly opened it. She didn't dare go in to investigate and just left.

Naru was standing by the stairs waiting for her.

"Where did you go?" he asked coldly.

"The back," Mai answered and hurried out.

They went to the van.

"Did you learn anything?" Naru asked Lin.

"No," Lin answered, "This town isn't significant. There are no records."

Masako and John came up.

"Hara-san?" Naru turned to her, "Anything?"

"There's nothing here," she answered, "I feel nothing and I see nothing."

Everyone turned to Mai.

"Maybe Mai got the wrong town," Ayako suggested.

"No, this is it," Mai stared at the crumbling house, "This is definitely it."

"Let's ask the locals," Naru said.

* * *

All the locals told them to ask the town officials instead. The team was forced to ask the town officials. They all gathered in the town office place.

"We'd like to ask some questions," Naru stepped up.

"What is it?" one of them, the one in front, said.

Naru glanced at Mai. Mai stepped forward.

"First of all, can you tell me who Joanna was?" Mai asked.

"There's no one here by that name," they stepped back.

"That's because she's already dead," Mai said.

"There was _one_ Joanna," one of them reluctantly told Mai.

"What happened to her?"

"She died falling off a roof."

"A roof?"

One of the officials popped their head out. "Hey, aren't you that girl?"

"Girl?"

"We all tried to warn you about her."

"Warn?"

"Don't tell me you've forgotten?"

"I don't remember... Could you tell me?"

The town officials nervously looked at each other.

"Please?" Mai pleaded.

"All we know is that the house she stayed in got caught on fire but because the house along with 2 other houses were isolated from the rest of the town, we only saw the last part."

"Last part?"

"Joanna fell. That's all we got, sorry."

Mai frowned.

* * *

When they left, Mai said she wanted to go back to the house next to the crumbling one.

"There's someone I want to talk to there," she said.

"Mai, stop trying to solve it on your own," Naru grabbed her arm, "You're obviously getting nowhere."

"I'm the only one that can solve it though," Mai stared at Naru hard, "No one knows the truth and you guys don't know what to ask!"

"You can tell us," Naru glared at her.

"It's hard to explain!" Mai yanked her arm away, "I just want to ask the old lady!"

Ayako stepped up. "That's the thing Mai," she said, "There's _no one_ in that house."

"What? I'm talking about the house next to the crumbling house."

"So am I. We checked it out when you were next door. It's burnt and deserted."

"You're lying!"

"I'm not."

Mai ran to the house with the old lady. Frantically, she ripped the door open. She saw the old lady sitting on the chair. _What's going on?!_ she thought.

"Excuse me?" she tried to catch the old lady's attention but her voice herself sounded muted. _My voice..._ Mai thought.

As soon as Mai thought this, the view turned black and white, then sepia toned before turning back to normal. Mai rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn't seeing things. Now, the house that stood before her was new and in the chair was the old woman but she looked considerably younger and healthier.

Mai waved at the old lady to get her attention but before she could say anything, two little girls passed through her. _Through_ her. Like _she_ was the ghost. Mai couldn't see their faces but they passed through her giggling. One had black hair and one had brown hair. They were the same ones from her dream. The little girls greeted the old woman who was knitting as they ran past her and through the back door. Mai followed them into the flower maze.

"Wanna know a secret, Joanna?" the brown haired girl crouched as if to hide under the flowers.

"What is it?" the black haired girl crouched down with her.

"I don't have a daddy," the brown haired girl whispered. _Wait a minute..._ Mai thought, _She couldn't be..._

"That's okay," the girl 'Joanna' whispered back, "I don't have a mommy or a daddy."

They smiled at each other and ran back in.

The scene in front of Mai changed to a bad one. There was fire everywhere. The girls weren't present however and the old lady was just sitting on her chair.

_That can't be right..._ Mai thought. _Because then..._

The scene turned sepia toned then black and white before returning normal. Instead of seeing what Mai deducted was the past, Mai saw the present. She didn't see the old lady alive however.

Sitting on the chair was a body. Burnt beyond recognition. It was falling apart. Probably because it was decaying. Mai knew who it was, though. Who else could it have been?

* * *

**I'm sorry it's boring but I'm just trying to build up the mystery. If I solved it now, it'd seem too short and if I added some twist, it'd be better of as a sequel since it'd be different from the original plot, I think. Um, feel free to guess what happened and if you do happen to guess what happened back then that causes the girl to go psycho on Mai, I'll credit ya for it. This is my most successful story so give yourselves a round of applause! 6 chapters and 49 reviews? That's amazing guys.**


	8. Chapter 8

**I'm so sorry I haven't updated. My mom kept forgetting the Word update and being the lazy person that I am, I didn't install the last version just so I didn't have to install Word twice. Hehe... Sorry.**

**Girl's speech pattern  
**_Italics_** - ringing voice; normal face  
_Bold Italics_ - angry; distorted face  
Bold - not angry; distorted face**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt.**

* * *

It was the old lady. A burnt version. A dead version. A falling apart version. Next to her, the girl crouched beside her, patting the old lady's hand.

"_She got in my way_," she whispered. Mai heard her though. It was dead silent in the first place anyway. Dead silent. Literally.

"Got in your way?" Mai repeated. The girl stood up and turned around.

"_Back then.._." she walked up to Mai, "_Right now..._"

"That's cruel," Mai glared at her.

"_I know_," the girl shrugged, "_But I'm not the only one. Am I?_"

"What?"

"**_Don't make me laugh. You may not remember but that doesn't stop you from being a murderer._**"

"You're lying!"

The girl giggled. "**No.**" She walked back to the old lady. "**You seem to have a habit of accusing people who tell the truth of lying.**"

"I'm not a murderer!" Mai yelled.

"**Ah, but you are**," the girl whipped around, "**You're a murderer and denying it won't change the fact that you murdered this lady.**"

"YOU'RE LYING!"

"**I'm not.**"

"Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!"

"**A shame, isn't it?**"

"SHUT UP!" Mai kept screaming the words but the girl just talked through her.

"**I don't know why you can't remember. Trauma, perhaps?**" Joanna paused before continuing, "**You know, they say the best way to remember something is to recreate the experience.**"

* * *

The scene changed. Mai was sitting down in front of Joanna. Joanna was talking to her and Mai seemed to be talking back but Mai wasn't talking. Mai tried to stand up but she couldn't. She stayed crouched with Joanna. Finally 'she' stood up. Together with Joanna, her body walked into a room and sat down on some chairs. 'Mai' looked up and caught herself on a mirror but she didn't see herself. Not her teenaged self. In the mirror, a small 6 year old girl looked back. It was Mai.

_That's me... _Mai thought. _That means I'm seeing the past through 'my' eyes._

"We can talk to her," Mai started paying attention to the conversation 'she' was having with Joanna. "She might listen!"

"You don't understand, Mai-chan," Joanna groaned, "She's not going to listen! She'll tell everyone and I'll have to move."

"But you didn't even steal that much!" 'Mai' protested.

"It doesn't matter!"

"But..."

"She'll tell everyone."

"What are we supposed to do?"

"There's one way."

"What?"

Joanna looked Mai in the eye. "We can kill her."

"Kill her?! Why?"

"It's okay!" Joanna grinned, "She's old anyway! She's going to die anyway!"

Mai hesitated but eventually nodded.

"How?" Mai asked, "How are we supposed to kill her?"

"We can't leave any evidence," Joanna walked over to a drawer and pulled it open, "So we'll have to burn her house down."

Joanna took out a pair of matches.

"Wait here." Joanna left and came back with a bottle.

"What's that?" Mai asked.

"It's oil," she answered, "It makes the fire spread better."

"Hey, do we really need to do this? Won't dying hurt?"

"Not this one. We'll wait until she's asleep."

Mai followed Joanna next door. Joanna ordered Mai to hoist her up so she could look through the window.

"This is great! She's already asleep!" Joanna exclaimed excitedly.

"Yeah... great..." Mai agreed weakly.

Joanna eagerly opened up the bottle of oil and started pouring it onto the house's walls. She turned around and stopped smiling.

"Why are you frowning?" she asked. "Go ahead! Throw the match in."

"Um, wouldn't the fire catch onto our house too?"

"They're too far away from each other."

Mai looked up at the house.

"I don't think we should do this," Mai shook her head, "It's still killing."

"You know what? I'll leave it up to you," Joanna backed up, "You decide whether or not to set it on fire. But remember... she's going to make me _go away_."

Mai looked back and forth from the house to Joanna. She stepped forward and offered Joanna the matches back.

"I thought we were best friends," Joanna's eyes started to fill with tears, "You promised we'd do anything and everything to watch out for each other! YOU PROMISED!"

"I... I..." Mai stuttered, "I know. We _are_ best friends."

Mai struck a match and threw it into the house. She watched as the house got engulfed by flames. In the background, she could hear Joanna cheering.

* * *

The scene changed and now Mai looked at jacks and Joanna counting them as she bounced the ball.

"Maybe we should just tell the town the truth," Mai heard her 6 year old self say, "They'll understand, right?"

"No they won't," Joanna immediately said, "They won't make us leave or anything. They'll do worse things."

"What kind of things?"

"They have a word for people like us two," she looked Mai straight in the eye, "Do you know what that word is?"

"... No."

"Murderer." Joanna's voice was cruel and uncaring. "You're a **murderer**, Mai. You know what they do to murderers? They kill them."

* * *

**And that's the chapter. I'll try to update more but I have to focus on my studies too (I have a feeling I might fail this year) so don't expect another one in a long time. OoooOoooh! The mystery continues!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Sorry about the really long pause. I've been really busy. On the plus side, I finally got the update on Word. IT'S AWESOME!!**

**Girl's speech pattern**

_Italics_** - ****ringing voice; normal face  
**_**Bold Italics**_** - angry; distorted face  
Bold - not angry; distorted face**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt.**

* * *

The scene changed and Mai found herself staring up at a crumbling ceiling. Realizing she was laying down on a floor, Mai got up and looked around. The sudden change in altitude made her head hurt.

"_Rise and shine_," Mai heard the girl say.

Mai whipped around. The girl was sitting on the chair where the old woman should have been, dead but the old woman was nowhere to be seen.

"_How was the adventure?_" the girl asked conversationally, "_I thought it was fun. Did you think it was fun?_"

"Who are you?" Mai glared at her.

The girl laughed, grabbed Mai's shoulders and said, "_I'm you._"

Mai slapped the girl's arms off which instead of the transparent but cold nothing she expected, were solid. Solid but still cold.

"Don't mess with me!" Mai backed up, "WHO ARE YOU?!"

The girl laughed. "_You still don't know?!_" she twirled and looked Mai in the eye, "_Make sure to stay in school, Mai_."

"... Joanna?"

"_Bingo!_" Joanna laughed, "_We have a winner!_"

"What do you want with me?"

"_Why do you assume that everything's about you_?" Joanna rolled her eyes. "_Maybe I just chose you randomly out of some random candidates._"

"DON'T MESS WITH ME!" Mai screamed.

"_My, my, what a temper..._" Joanna smiled.

"WHAT DID I EVER DO TO YOU?!" Mai continued screaming. "IF ANYTHING, _YOU_ ARE THE ONE WHO DID SOMETHING TO _ME_!"

"_So she says_," Joanna rolled her eyes.

"Just because you're dead, doesn't mean you have the right to pick on me," Mai lowered her voice but kept it angry.

"_Oh cut the dramatics!_"

"Why are you so mean?!"

"_Why are you so mean?_" Joanna mocked Mai.

"Answer me!"

" '_Answer me!' _"

"Just because you can't move on...!"

"**What an idiot. Just because you still don't have the memories, you think **_**you're**_** the victim.**"

"I _am_ the victim."

" **'_I am the victim.' _**" Joanna rolled her eyes again, "_**Will you listen to yourself? You don't even know what happened that day.**_"

"I know enough to know _I'm_ the victim." Mai's voice was firm.

"**Oh really?**" Joanna stepped forward. "**Do enlighten me, Mai. What **_**did**_** happen that day? What did I do to make **_**you**_** the victim?**"

Mai didn't say anything. She _couldn't _say anything. What could she say? She remembered nothing except for a memory shown by Joanna and she wasn't sure _that_ was real. In a way, Joanna had told her the truth. Mai was a murderer. Albeit a _forced_ murderer but a murderer nonetheless.

"**What? Cat got your tongue?**"

"What do you _want_?"

"**Wow. A sentence **_**not**_** about you. Well, okay.**" Joanna walked forward until she was really close to Mai. "**There's nothing I want more than to see. you. suffer.**"

Mai glared at Joanna. Joanna glared back.

"I'm out of here," Mai turned away.

"_Ah, don't you want to know the truth?_"

Mai turned back. "What truth?"

"_The truth of what happened that night._"

"What night?"

"_The night I died._"

* * *

"How do I know that's the truth?" Mai glared at Joanna.

"_You just have to trust me as much as I trusted you_," Joanna shrugged.

"You're lying."

"_Sure wish I was_."

Mai examined Joanna's face to try and find at least one small sign of lying.

"You're lying."

"_And what do you suppose happened? If that wasn't the truth, why would I haunt you? If that wasn't what happened, why would I try so hard to make your life miserable? What reason would I have to bother you? Why wouldn't I just haunt the real murderer?_"

Mai shook her head.

"I didn't kill you," she insisted, "You made it all up."

"_You did kill me. It's the truth. I died from your hands._"

* * *

"Mai?" Bou-san waved a hand in front of Mai's face.

Mai had been unresponsive the whole drive back to the hospital. She didn't say a word or even look anyone in the eyes as the doctors scolded her and as everyone did their best to get a word out of her.

"What happened in there?" Ayako asked her.

"Nothing," Mai replied.

"Then why are you so quiet?"

"I'm just... tired, I guess."

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fantastic." Mai's voice was monotone.

"... Okay then, I guess. Get well."

* * *

**Okay, that's probably the shortest chapter I've done except for the first chapter. Sorry. Oh and there's no part missing. What Joanna showed her is still a mystery and I'm not going to reveal the truth just yet... lol. It sucks, I know but I'm starting to get really tired lately. We were assigned to do these 13 orthographic pictures in graphics and it's due by the end of next class. It sucks because I have to go during lunch to finish it. Geez, why does the border have to be 10mm and the drawings 20mm from the border?**


	10. Chapter 10

**Okay, so I won't lie to you guys, I was really lazy and didn't at all work on this chapter all this time. I've been into writing love stories lately so every time I opened word, I'd end up getting some heartbreaking story idea. My friend found out and she told me to update this other love story I wrote that she thought was genius, lol.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt.**

* * *

"_What night?"_

"The night I died._"_

Mai thought about what Joanna had shown her the night before. It was... yeah...

_The scene had changed dramatically. Mai and Joanna stood on the roof Mai almost fell off. This time, their younger counterparts were standing in front of them glaring at each other. It was a cool night but younger Mai and younger Joanna were both sweating, regardless._

"_Mai, be reasonable," younger Joanna said nervously, "They're lying..."_

"_They're not lying, ARE THEY?!" younger Mai screamed, "I'M DONE BEING USED BY YOU!"_

"_Mai..." Joanna's eyes filled with tears. "I swear! They're lying! They're lying!"_

_Joanna shook her head violently, murmuring protests of denial._

"_No," Mai shook her head, "No, no, no, no, no, NO!"_

_Joanna took a step forward with her hand outstretched._

"_Mai..."_

"_DON'T TOUCH ME!" Mai screamed, "DON'T TOUCH ME! DON'T TOUCH ME! DON'T TOUCH ME!"_

"_Mai!" Tears streamed down Joanna's cheeks, "They're lying! It's you and me, remember?"_

"_You and me, against the world?" Mai glared, "Don't even joke!"_

"_Mai... Mai-chan?"_

"_Don't call me that! YOU WERE GOING TO PIN EVERYTHING ON ME! YOU WERE GOING TO KILL MY MOM!"_

_Mai went back in for a bit and when she came out she had in her hands, a box of matches and a bottle of familiar looking liquid. She started pouring it behind her._

"_Mai?" Joanna's voice was shaking, "Mai, what are you doing? That's oil!"_

"_Oh, really?" came Mai's sarcastic reply, "So what?"_

"_Mai! That's dangerous!" Joanna shrunk back, "We'll both die here!"_

"I'm_ not dying," Mai said simply, "You are."_

"_Huh?"_

"_I'll be sure to tell them you're sorry. I'll tell them that you told me you'd kill me if I didn't. I'll tell them everything."_

"_Mai, you're wrong! MAI!"_

"_Shut it, Joanna."_

"_What about your mom?"_

"_She'll believe _me_. I'm her daughter. She's out right now. She won't know a thing!"_

"_Mai, MAI!"_

"_Don't lie to me. _I know everything about you._"_

_Mai stood behind the oil and struck a match. Joanna started running towards her with a frantic expression. Mai tried to push her back with one hand but Joanna grabbed her arm and pulled her in. The match in Mai's hands had fallen into the oil and the two were trapped._

"_It's not enough that you were going to walk away with a clean slate?!" Mai slapped Joanna._

"_I only meant to get out!" More tears fell down Joanna's cheeks._

_Mai started pushing Joanna back towards the edge of the roof. Joanna struggled and resisted._

"_I'm not going to die with you!" Mai growled, "You're dying first!"_

_Mai pushed Joanna and they were wrestling with each other. Mai tried to get her foot onto Joanna's stomach and Joanna tried to turn around. Joanna tried to trip Mai but Mai stepped on her foot. Suddenly, they heard calls of 'Fire! Fire!' in the distance. Using all the strength she can, Mai pushed Joanna to the edge._

"_Mai..." Joanna looked Mai in the eye. "They're lying..."_

_For a second, Joanna looked like she was telling the truth. Mai almost let go. Except... she didn't. Out of shock, Mai gave a push and Joanna fell backwards off the roof._

_By this time, the officials had come. They had started dousing the fires. A few people checked on Joanna. Mai had a faint hope that maybe Joanna had lived. But that was no good too._

"_Someone!" the person down there screamed, "Someone help us! She's stopped breathing! Her heartbeat's slowing!"_

_People crowded Joanna until one looked up and saw Mai, looking over the roof, kneeling._

"_There's a kid up there!" they screamed. "Put the fire out quickly!"_

Mai's flashback ended there. She couldn't believe it. She _had_ killed Joanna. _It was for a good reason..._ Mai thought. _It was self-defence..._ Suddenly, Mai's head started to hurt. Unable to bear it, she screamed and writhed and tried to find the nurse help button. Unable to find it, Mai settled for screaming and clutching her head. Soon, she was restrained by nurses. The pain was still there. As the nurses called for doctors, Mai gasped.

* * *

In Mai's mind, the black peace and silence was changed with a blinding white hot pain. Suddenly, she started seeing a scene. It was a memory. In front of her was Joanna's burnt and crumbling house.

"Joanna..." Mai murmured in the memory.

She heard voices in the distance.

"What are we supposed to do?" someone said in a hushed whisper.

"Nothing," someone else whispered sharply, "How were we supposed to know she'd end up dying?!"

"I thought their friendship would just be broken!"

"I thought so too! Mai's a good girl! She wouldn't steal by herself!"

Mai followed the voices to two adults huddled together.

"You lied?" came her quivering voice, "YOU LIED TO ME?!"

"Mai..." the two adults came towards her but she backed away, "Mai, think of it this way..."

"NO!" Mai shook her head, "SHE DIED BECAUSE OF YOU! ATONE FOR YOUR SINS!"

"Listen _brat_," one of them scolded her, "She didn't die because of _us_. She died because of _you_."

Mai wailed and suddenly her head started hurting.

When Mai, regained consciousness, she was staring at a white ceiling. There was another soft voice in the room. Mai turned to see the doctor talking to Ayako.

"I'm a murderer...!" Mai whispered to herself, "I killed my own best friend."

Mai turned away so her face was covered by her hair so she could sob quietly.

* * *

**I know it's confusing but if you can't fill in the blanks, the next chapter's going to be like a recap chapter. It will tell the story from going to the town to Mai's memory loss. I meant to have this up like a million years ago but we got a new social studies teacher who recently gave us 3 projects and one is due next week (I haven't started my diorama or painting yet so...). Also, I have scorekeeping on weekends and it's been suffocating me. Bleh. I'll try to get the recap chapter up on Saturday or Friday or something after school.**

**PLEASE REVIEW! I'M SORRY I SUDDENLY DISAPPEARED!**


	11. Chapter 11

**I'm late... Sorry.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Ghost Hunt.**

* * *

Mai was so young when she lost her father. It was so sad. Mai, who did not understand, merely assumed he went on vacation.

Her mother accepted this but the parents started talking; expressing condolences. So Mai found out the truth. She cried for days. Finally, when she stopped crying, a year or so after, her mother suggested a vacation.

"It's a small town," her mother smiled, "It's by a river too."

"Where are we going to live?" Mai asked. Her mom glanced at her.

"I've taken care of that. We're going to live with a cousin of a friend of a co-worker of mine."

When they arrived in the town, they stood in front of the first house that they saw.

"See, it has the best view of the river," her mother said cheerfully. "Let's go in."

Her mom knocked on the door.

"Mizuki-san?" she asked opening the door and peering in. "Mizuki-san, it's us."

Instead of an old woman, a little girl Mai's age came down the stairs.

"Mizuki left," she said in a small voice, "She said that when you two came, she said to show you to your rooms."

"How long will she be gone?" Mai's mother asked, "Should we just wait for her?"

"She'll be gone a long time," the little girl replied, "So no."

The little girl bowed deeply. "I'm Joanna. Nice to meet you."

Mai and her mom also bowed and introduced themselves. They followed Joanna to their rooms.

"Thank you," Mai smiled. Joanna smiled back.

After that, Mai and Joanna became very good friends.

* * *

"She's a nice person," Joanna said, one day, "Let's go."

Mai followed Joanna to the house next door. They went through the front door.

"Hello, are you here?" Joanna called inside.

It was silent. Joanna went in and motioned for Mai to follow.

"I think she's out buying more food or something," she said. "By the way, do you know the best thing about this house? It echoes very prettily."

Mai raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

"Singing here makes it sound prettier, here," Joanna started singing Amazing Grace.

"English?" Mai asked.

"Yup!" Joanna grinned, "Me and my parents used to live in America until we moved here."

"Where are your parents?" Mai asked curiously.

Joanna was silent for a few seconds and when she opened her mouth to say something, an old lady came in.

"Ah, you're here!" she brightened up. "This is Mai."

Mai bowed.

"No need to be polite," the old lady smiled. "Joanna, have you shown her the back?"

"No, not yet!" Joanna grinned and dragged Mai to the back.

The yard was full of colourful flowers taller than Joanna and Mai.

"It's a maze!" Joanna told Mai. "Come on! I'll show you a secret spot!"

Joanna brought Mai to a dead end where the flowers completely covered them.

"This can be our special club!" Joanna declared.

"Cool!" Mai praised it.

* * *

Every day, Joanna and Mai played in their club. They crouched under the flowers with their toys and doing their secret handshake.

"Wanna know a secret, Joanna?" Mai asked.

"What is it?" Joanna looked up.

"I don't have a daddy," Mai whispered.

"That's okay," Joanna whispered back. "I don't have a mommy or a daddy."

They smiled at each other and ran back in.

Every day, they played in the maze and they told secrets.

"What happened to your parents?" Mai asked Joanna.

"My daddy died..." Joanna frowned, "The meanies burned down the house to destroy the evidence."

"What about your mom?" Mai asked.

"Mommy started getting in a lot of trouble and we moved back here," Joanna said, "But she left me with Mizuki and said she'd be back another time."

"So what happened to Mizuki? It's been two weeks but we haven't seen her."

"I don't know," Joanna frowned again.

"It's okay," Mai said, "We're best friends and almost sisters. We'll protect each other."

"Right," Joanna smiled back, "We'll do anything and everything to protect each other."

They pinky-sweared on this.

* * *

One day, Joanna and Mai were playing in the town where people sold food and Joanna, who was hungry, decided to steal an apple. She immediately dragged Mai away and ran back to her house.

Later on, they went next door. The old lady had promised to tell them a story. But instead...

"Did you steal an apple?" the old lady asked. "I thought I saw you two in the marketplace..."

Shocked, Joanna dragged Mai back to their house and into the back.

Mai sat down in front of Joanna. Joanna was talking about how bad their situation was.

"I got an idea," Joanna said.

They stood up and together, walked into a room and sat down on some chairs.

"We can talk to her," Mai tried to convince Joanna. "She might listen!"

"You don't understand, Mai-chan," Joanna groaned, "She's not going to listen! She'll tell everyone and I'll have to move."

"But you didn't even steal that much!" 'Mai' protested.

"It doesn't matter!"

"But..."

"She'll tell everyone."

"What are we supposed to do?"

"There's one way."

"What?"

Joanna looked Mai in the eye. "We can kill her."

"Kill her?! Why?"

"It's okay!" Joanna grinned, "She's old anyway! She's going to die anyway!"

Mai hesitated but eventually nodded.

"How?" Mai asked, "How are we supposed to kill her?"

"We can't leave any evidence," Joanna walked over to a drawer and pulled it open, "So we'll have to burn her house down."

Joanna took out a pair of matches.

"Wait here." Joanna left and came back with a bottle.

"What's that?" Mai asked.

"It's oil," she answered, "It makes the fire spread better."

"Hey, do we really need to do this? Won't dying hurt?"

"Not this one. We'll wait until she's asleep."

Mai followed Joanna next door. Joanna ordered Mai to hoist her up so she could look through the window.

"This is great! She's already asleep!" Joanna exclaimed excitedly.

"Yeah... great..." Mai agreed weakly.

Joanna eagerly opened up the bottle of oil and started pouring it onto the house's walls. She turned around and stopped smiling.

"Why are you frowning?" she asked. "Go ahead! Throw the match in."

"Um, wouldn't the fire catch onto our house too?"

"They're too far away from each other."

Mai looked up at the house.

"I don't think we should do this," Mai shook her head, "It's still killing."

"You know what? I'll leave it up to you," Joanna backed up, "You decide whether or not to set it on fire. But remember... she's going to make me go away."

Mai looked back and forth from the house to Joanna. She stepped forward and offered Joanna the matches back.

"I thought we were best friends," Joanna's eyes started to fill with tears, "You promised we'd do anything and everything to watch out for each other! YOU PROMISED!"

"I... I..." Mai stuttered, "I know. We _are_ best friends."

Mai struck a match and threw it into the house. She watched as the house got engulfed by flames. In the background, she could hear Joanna cheering.

* * *

**I'll stop the chapter here so that you won't get bored. It's only a recap chapter anyway so I'll do part two next time. Flashbacks are fairly hard to write so sorry if I took too long. I'll definitely try to get the next chapter in before the next weekend ends.**

**PLEASE REVIEW!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt.**

* * *

The image of the house burning was embedded into Mai's mind. When the rest of the town came, the two were already in their rooms asleep. The town police questioned the two for the witnesses but both had lied that they were asleep. Mai's mom came home later that night. She worried for Mai and Joanna's safety.

"You don't think the arsonist will target our house next, do you?" Mai and Joanna heard Mai's mom ask the officer quietly.

They were supposed to be asleep but they couldn't. Joanna was filled with the adrenaline of burning down the house next door so she could barely close her eyes. Mai was haunted by the image of the old woman's house burning and Joanna's grin when they'd finished. Apparently, Joanna had learned everything from the people that killed her dad.

The town was in an uproar the next day. Theories spread like wildfire and soon at least thirty different versions of what happened had been spread around.

'_I heard the old lady was in the yakuza so she burned down her own house because the police was after her!_'

'_Really? _I_ heard that she had debts to settle but when they found out she couldn't pay, they made her pay... with her life!_'

* * *

Eventually, the entire thing died down.

Mai and Joanna were walking in the marketplace when they heard someone talking about the old lady once again. They both froze.

'_... reckon it's that woman next door._' Mai and Joanna turned to see who was talking. '_She's always been suspicious. See, nothing like this has ever happened. That woman turns up with her kid and a fire starts. We're supposed to think that's a coincidence?!_'

Mai, who couldn't handle the guilt, ran home.

One day, the two of them were playing jacks. Mai stared at the jacks as Joanna counted them.

"Maybe we should just tell the town the truth," Mai suggested uneasily, "They'll understand, right?"

"No they won't," Joanna immediately said, "They won't make us leave or anything. They'll do worse things."

"What kind of things?"

"They have a word for people like us two," she looked Mai straight in the eye, "Do you know what that word is?"

"... No."

"Murderer." Joanna's voice was cruel and uncaring. "You're a murderer, Mai. You know what they do to murderers? They kill them."

* * *

Two weeks passed and one day, Joanna got sick. Mai's mom brought her to a hospital and Mai, who was bored, roamed around town.

"It's that freak girl Joanna," she heard someone say.

Mai didn't want to hear them so she tried to walk away quickly but she still heard them say the next part.

"She's been bragging, I heard, in the next town that she set a house on fire AND that she was about to pin it on her little brown-haired friend."

It was unbelievable but Mai stopped cold anyway.

"It makes sense," said another voice, "I heard Mizuki left her because Joanna threatened to kill her."

The two went on with blaming Joanna and Mai believed the lot of it. To her, all of it made sense. Mai even believed that Joanna plotted to kill her mom. She went home dejected. When she got there, Joanna and her mom were already home.

"Stay here with Joanna," her mom said, "I have to go and buy the medicine. I'll be back later tonight, I hope."

Joanna and Mai played normally but the happier Joanna acted, the angrier Mai seemed to get. Why was _Joanna_ happy, when _Mai_ was suffering from guilt? What right did Joanna have, to frame Mai and kill people as she pleases?

Darkness fell upon the town and the stars were shining. By this time, Mai was filled with fury. But still, she smiled because she had a plan.

"Let's go onto the roof and watch the stars!" Mai suggested. Joanna nodded and they climbed up and out onto the roof.

Mai motioned for Joanna to follow her near the edge.

"Tell me the truth," Mai said to Joanna, "Do you plan on framing me and killing my mom?"

"What?" Joanna felt offended, "No! Who told you that?"

"I heard you've been bragging about it."

Joanna glared at Mai. "And you believed them over me?"

"It makes sense, doesn't it?" Mai's voice was getting louder by the second. "I mean, you're bursting with happiness and _I'm_ the one suffering!"

"It's not my fault you're weak!" Joanna was screaming.

Mai was at the edge of her sanity. She started crying, sobbing and laughing at the same time. It was actually a cool night but the two were sweating. When Mai finished crying and laughing, she glared at Joanna.

"WE'RE NOT FRIENDS ANYMORE!" Mai screamed so loud that her throat hurt.

"Mai, be reasonable," younger Joanna said nervously, "They're lying..."

"They're not lying, ARE THEY?!" younger Mai screamed, "I'M DONE BEING USED BY YOU!"

"Mai..." Joanna's eyes filled with tears. "I swear! They're lying! They're lying!"

Joanna shook her head violently, murmuring protests of denial.

"No," Mai shook her head, "No, no, no, no, no, NO!"

Joanna took a step forward with her hand outstretched.

"Mai..."

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" Mai screamed, "DON'T TOUCH ME! DON'T TOUCH ME! DON'T TOUCH ME!"

"Mai!" Tears streamed down Joanna's cheeks, "They're lying! It's you and me, remember?"

"You and me, against the world?" Mai glared, "Don't even joke!"

"Mai... Mai-chan?"

"Don't call me that! YOU WERE GOING TO PIN EVERYTHING ON ME! YOU WERE GOING TO KILL MY MOM!"

Mai went back in for a bit and when she came out she had in her hands, a box of matches and a bottle of familiar looking liquid. She started pouring it behind her.

"Mai?" Joanna's voice was shaking, "Mai, what are you doing? That's oil!"

"Oh, really?" came Mai's sarcastic reply, "So what?"

"Mai! That's dangerous!" Joanna shrunk back, "We'll both die here!"

"I'm not dying," Mai said simply, "You are."

"Huh?"

"I'll be sure to tell them you're sorry. I'll tell them that you told me you'd kill me if I didn't. I'll tell them everything."

"Mai, you're wrong! MAI!"

"Shut it, Joanna."

"What about your mom?"

"She'll believe me. I'm her daughter. She's out right now. She won't know a thing!"

"Mai, MAI!"

"Don't lie to me. I know everything about you."

Mai stood behind the oil and struck a match. Joanna started running towards her with a frantic expression. Mai tried to push her back with one hand but Joanna grabbed her arm and pulled her in. The match in Mai's hands had fallen into the oil and the two were trapped.

"It's not enough that you were going to walk away with a clean slate?!" Mai slapped Joanna.

"I only meant to get out!" More tears fell down Joanna's cheeks.

Mai started pushing Joanna back towards the edge of the roof. Joanna struggled and resisted.

"I'm not going to die with you!" Mai growled, "You're dying first!"

Mai pushed Joanna and they were wrestling with each other. Mai tried to get her foot onto Joanna's stomach and Joanna tried to turn around. Joanna tried to trip Mai but Mai stepped on her foot. Suddenly, they heard calls of 'Fire! Fire!' in the distance. Using all the strength she can, Mai pushed Joanna to the edge.

"Mai..." Joanna looked Mai in the eye. "They're lying..."

For a second, Joanna looked like she was telling the truth. Mai almost let go. Except... she didn't. Out of shock, Mai gave a push and Joanna fell backwards off the roof.

By this time, the officials had come. They had started dousing the fires. A few people checked on Joanna. Mai had a faint hope that maybe Joanna had lived. But that was no good too.

"Someone!" the person down there screamed, "Someone help us! She's stopped breathing! Her heartbeat's slowing!"

People crowded Joanna until one looked up and saw Mai, looking over the roof, kneeling.

"There's a kid up there!" they screamed. "Put the fire out quickly!"

* * *

**Oh. I thought this would be shorter. I guess there'll be a part 3 to this recap. Anyway, sorry if I bore you. Oh and someone sent me a review in I think, Indonesian but the online translator didn't translate very well so sorry but I didn't understand.**

**PLEASE REVIEW!**


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